FCC National Broadband Plan One Year Later: Where Are We Now?

The national broadband plan is now a year old, and while you're probably more likely to toast St. Patrick today than the FCC's 376-page plan, it's worth taking a look at how much (or how little) the commission has accomplished since March 2010.

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The national broadband plan is now a year old, and while you're probably more likely to toast St. Patrick today than the FCC's 376-page plan, it's worth taking a look at how much (or how little) the commission has accomplished since March 2010.

To be fair, the plan  which was mandated by the 2009 stimulus bill  outlines suggestions for providing the country with broadband service over the next 10 years, so no one expected everything to be in place by the end of this week. But you have to start somewhere, and the commission and supporting agencies have taken some steps when it comes spectrum allocation, broadband mapping, and public safety, among other things.

SPECTRUM

Spectrum probably seems like a dull, technical issue that doesn't really affect you, but when your Netflix movie stalls on your iPad or your phone doesn't load your e-mail because of overloaded systems, I imagine you'll care. At this point, wireless carriers have enough spectrum to run their day-to-day activities. But as more and more people drop feature phones for smartphones and adopt data-intensitive gadgets like tablets, the need for more spectrum intensifies.

The national broadband plan recognized this looming spectrum crunch, and called for an additional 500 MHz of spectrum to be used for broadband over the next decade, 300 MHz of which would be used for mobile. In June, President Obama took up the issue and ordered the Commerce Department to work with the FCC to free up that 500 MHz. Commerce later released a 10-year timetable, as well as a fast track option for what can be done in the next five years.

One thing FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has been pushing is the idea of volunteer auctions - allowing TV broadcasters to sell off unused spectrum that would then be used for broadband purposes. Last month, President Obama said that such auctions could raise an estimated $27.8 billion, which would be put toward his plan to provide 98 percent of Americans with access to next-generation wireless technology in the next five years, as well as pay down the deficit by $9.6 billion. But if the 2008 700 MHz auctions were any indication, getting these types of auctions off the ground is often a lengthy process.

MAPPING

Having plans to increase broadband adoption is great, but how do we know who really needs it? In addition to the broadband plan, the stimulus bill also provided $350 million for the creation of a national broadband inventory map. Commerce and the FCC followed through on that last month with the release of broadbandmap.gov. It's a searchable database with more than 25 million records that show where broadband Internet service is available, the technology used to provide the service, the maximum advertised speeds of the service, and the names of the service providers. Users can search by address, view data on a map, or use other interactive tools to compare broadband across various geographies, such as states, counties or congressional districts.

PUBLIC SAFETY

As we approach the 10-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, something that still eludes us is interoperable public safety network that would let first responders from different states, counties, or departments communicate with one another during an emergency. The broadband plan calls on the government to use the power of broadband to improve public safety and create an interoperable public safety wireless broadband communication networks by 2020.

In April, the FCC created the Emergency Response Interoperability Center (ERIC), which will create a framework for this public safety network. In January, the FCC also adopted a rulemaking on a public safety network; stakeholders will have several months to submit their comments and suggestions.

The FCC estimated that the interoperable network would require as much as $6.5 billion over 10 years, with most of that money needed between the second and fifth year. The wireless plan Obama unveiled last month calls for a $3 billion Wireless Innovation (WIN) Fund, which will support basic research, experimentation and testbeds, and applied development in areas like public safety, education, energy, health, transportation, and economic development. About $500 million of the WIN Fund's $3 billion would be used for R&D related to the deployment of an interoperable public safety network. Overall, Obama called for a $10.7 billion investment in such a network, including $3.2 billion to re-allocate D-Block spectrum to public safety, and $7 billion for the deployment of the network.

LOOKING AHEAD

Clearly, there's still a long way to go. While the broadband map showed that 68 percent of households in the U.S. have broadband access - up from 63.5 percent last year - work still need to be done to get to 100 percent. The topics addressed in the last year cover just a fraction of the broadband plan's nearly 400 pages of recommendations for the next nine years. The commission touched on everything from infrastructure and health IT to telecommuting and energy issues, so stay tuned for more rulemakings, committees, proposals, and hopefully, results.

Chloe Albanesius has been with PCMag.com since April 2007, most recently as Executive Editor for News and Features. Prior to that, she worked for a year covering financial IT on Wall Street for Incisive Media. From 2002 to 2005, Chloe covered technology policy for The National Journal's Technology Daily in Washington, DC. She has held internships at NBC's Meet the Press, washingtonpost.com, the Tate Gallery press office in London, Roll Call, and Congressional Quarterly. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from American University...
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